Gizmodo posts about how you can get custom printed toilet paper. Just $12/per for four rolls (cheaper in volume). What would YOU have printed on yours?

I’ve kept fairly quite about this for no real good reason, but I’m having surgery on Thursday. I’ve had issues with acid reflux for years and years now and my lung doctors are concerned that it could cause complications with my new lung as time goes on (there’s even some speculation that it could have been a factor in my IPF, but that’s for another time). So Thursday I get to go into the hospital and get my esophagus tied off. This will prevent any acid from working its way up from my stomach. Though it isn’t tied off tight enough that food can’t get down.

They say I’ll be in the hospital for four to five days. So my stay won’t even be that long. I hope to have my laptop with me to make it all the more bearable. If you want to come visit I’ll be posting updates on that too so check here for more information.

I get to eat tonight and then I’m on clear liquids till my surgery. Including having to drink a gallon of stuff to clean me out. I’m oh so thrilled for that. Wish me luck!

I want to see what the Monkey Webcam looks like personally. Perfect for spying on people.

Lovers of cute things (and the Japanese) will snatch up this USB MyPet Webcam that comes in both monkey and puppy models. Supporting up to 640×480 at 15 frames per second, this webcam is perfect for the girlfriend that hates tech.

Readers could also use it to spy on a victim who doesn’t know this is a webcam. A very dumb victim.

USB MyPet Webcam cranks the cuteness factor [uber gizmo]

[via Gizmodo]

The WSJ has a short article about how Hollywood still falls short when portraying computer use in movies.

In the 1996 blockbuster “Mission: Impossible,” the secret agent played by Tom Cruise uses email to set a trap for one of his adversaries — a shadowy, Bible-quoting figure he knows only as “Max.”

Mr. Cruise’s character uses a laptop to compose an email message addressed to “Max@Job 3:14.” Once he clicks the “send” button, the email is carried away in an oversized on-screen envelope, complete with postage stamp. In the real world, such a message would set the stage for a bounce-back error message, not an action/adventure thriller. [WSJ.com]

Perfect for stopping little kids in their tracks.

Step away from the limousine, or I’ll shoot you with this … teddy bear? The Teddy Bear Gun capitalizes on a cutesy trend in Japan where wedding guests throw teddy bears at wedding receptions instead of rice or bouquets.

If teddy bear throwing sounds like a lot of work to you, here it’s made easy with a simple touch of a button. Pull the trigger and the tiny plush bear is catapulted into the air, and once airborne, it’ll float safely back to earth thanks to its tiny parachute. Made by paintball gun manufacturer Sunamiya, the party crackers will go on sale this month.

Gun-shaped teddy bear crackers ready to liven up wedding receptions [Gizmodo]

This morning I woke up to part of Electric Skychurch’s Deus Suite playing on Groove Salad. And the sun was shining through the windows just right. Such a nice peaceful way to wake.

Recently around 50 members of Improv Everywhere dressed up in royal blue polo shirts and khakis and infiltrated a Best Buy. Hi-jinx ensue.

The idea for this mission was submitted by a stranger via email. Agent Slavinsky wrote in to suggest I get either a large group of people in blue polo shirts and khakis to enter a Best Buy or a group in red polo shirts and khakis to enter a Target. Wearing clothing almost identical to the store’s uniform, the agents would not claim to work at the store but would be friendly and helpful if anyone had a question.

This has been a crazy season for new anime. There are so many new shows out there (as I mentioned in an earlier post). Now, after a few weeks, the real winners are starting to make themselves clear. Two in particular that stand out to me are Suzumiya Haruhi no Yutsu and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. I’ll post more about Haruhi later, since I just got done watching and episode of Higurashi and it is more fresh in my head.

I’m only three episodes in (and about to watch a fourth) and this show has completely sucked me in. Keiichi has recently moved to a small town and started school. At this point the show was seeming a little silly, lots of typical school hi-jinx. After school Keiichi goes off with one of his school friends, Rena, and she shows him a junkyard where she goes to collect things. She runs off to explore and he waits for her. While waiting he runs into a photographer who tells him about a murder that took place right around there a few years ago.

The most striking thing about the show is how it shifts gears. One moment things seem all happy and cute, only to turn around and become quite dark and ominous. Keiichi begins to think someone is out to get him, and I’ve started to wonder who to trust in all this. Currently Keiichi looks like he’s about to snap. I hope he gets some answers soon.

This show also ended up surprising me a lot. For the first fifteen minutes or so I wasn’t that impressed. It felt kind of mindless and cutesy. Something which changed just enough by the end of the episode to pull me back to watch the second. And it is going to be a 26 episode series, which means we’re still only barely scratching the surface of the story. Here’s hoping the rest of the ride is as interesting as the first bit.

This has been a crazy season for new anime. There are so many new shows out there (as I mentioned in an earlier post). Now, after a few weeks, the real winners are starting to make themselves clear. Two in particular that stand out to me are Suzumiya Haruhi no Yutsu and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. I’ll post more about Haruhi later, since I just got done watching and episode of Higurashi and it is more fresh in my head.

I’m only three episodes in (and about to watch a fourth) and this show has completely sucked me in. Keiichi has recently moved to a small town and started school. At this point the show was seeming a little silly, lots of typical school hi-jinx. After school Keiichi goes off with one of his school friends, Rena, and she shows him a junkyard where she goes to collect things. She runs off to explore and he waits for her. While waiting he runs into a photographer who tells him about a murder that took place right around there a few years ago.

The most striking thing about the show is how it shifts gears. One moment things seem all happy and cute, only to turn around and become quite dark and ominous. Keiichi begins to think someone is out to get him, and I’ve started to wonder who to trust in all this. Currently Keiichi looks like he’s about to snap. I hope he gets some answers soon.

This show also ended up surprising me a lot. For the first fifteen minutes or so I wasn’t that impressed. It felt kind of mindless and cutesy. Something which changed just enough by the end of the episode to pull me back to watch the second. And it is going to be a 26 episode series, which means we’re still only barely scratching the surface of the story. Here’s hoping the rest of the ride is as interesting as the first bit.

(Cross-posted to the anime blog)

Yesterday was Boston day. I just had felt the need to get out of the house and be social. I had plans for brunch and then just planned to bum around and see who I could find the rest of the day. Hopefully using up enough time to make it to my friend Bree’s going away party.

Brunch was great. We went to one of my favorite brunch places, Soundbites. And as usually it didn’t disappoint. I even got to see the breakfast guy yell at a table for taking too long. It was classic. And I got some yummy eggs benedict too! Maybe I’ll see about turning this into a monthly thing until I move back up there.

The rest of the day was spent in Harvard Square and Davis Square. Then I stopped in to see Bree, since I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it till 6. It was good seeing her, I hadn’t seen her in around a year (when she came to visit me in the hospital).

I left there intending to go home, but I realized I really only needed to fill up an hour and a half till her going away thang started. So I headed over in the direction, parked and wandered around the Virgin Megastore for a while before heading over to the Otherside to find her. It was a nice time, got to hang out more, see other friends, and drink enough chai to be all revved up for the trip home. And I got to meet the Pennysaver guy!

Overall a great day.